Coil stabilizer



Oc 2, 1962 c. c. BLACKMAN ETAL COIL STABILIZER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 10, 1959 INVENTORS CAL V/N c. BZACAMA/V a: ROBE)? T J-BEEMEIE. BY /M- nit States atent ice 3,056,594 COIL STABILIZER Calvin C. Blackrnan and Robert J. Beemer, Bay Village, Ohio, assignors to Lee Wilson, Cleveland, Ohio Filed June 10, 1959, Ser. No. 819,258 Claims. (Cl. 26347) This invention relates to opened coil heat treatment of strip metal and more particularly to means for preventing undesirable distortion of an opened coil during heat treatment.

In the opened coil annealing procedure a tight wound coil of strip metal is first recoiled into opened form with the laps of the coil spaced apart. Such an opened coil is then supported with its axis vertical on an open grid-like base structure and heated atmosphere is caused to flow vertically, either upwardly or downwardly, through the spaces between the laps of the opened coil. As the lower edge portions of the laps of the opened coil rest on the supporting grid or base, they maintain their original positions during annealing and are not moved about or harmfully distorted by the blast of heated atmosphere passing thereover.

Furthermore, in most cases when the heated atmosphere is forced upwardly through the opened coil from bottom to top, the top edge portion of the coil also retains its original shape and lap spacing to a satisfactory degree during the annealing operation. However, when heat is applied by forcing atmosphere downwardly through the opened laps from top to bottom, the unsupported top edge portions of the spaced apart laps of the opened coil may flutter and move out of position due to the action of the extremely high velocity stream of gas as it is forced down into the spaces between the laps. The result may be a permanent distortion of the upper edge portion of the strip which is difficult to remove and interferes with proper recoiling of the annealed opened coil back into tight wound form. Light gauge strip, such as tin plate, is particularly subject to such bending or distortion of the upper edges of the coil during opened coil annealing and the top edge of coils of heavier gauge strip may at times be distorted, particularly when annealing is carried out at relatively high temperature because of the nature of the steel being treated or to obtain certain desired physical characteristics in the material.

Accordingly it is an object of the present invention to provide means for stabilizing opened coils of strip metal during heat treatment whereby the laps will be maintained in proper spaced relation and excessive distortion with resulting undesirable bending of the strip will be prevented. Other objects of our invention include the provision of a coil stabilizer for use in the opened coil heat treatment of strip metal which will offer a minimum of resistance to the passage of atmosphere through the spaces between the laps of the coil; which may be used with coils of various diameters, gauges and lap spacings; which is easy to apply to and remove from an opened coil; which is rugged and has long service life; and which is effective to retain the upper end of an opened coil in substantially its original form and condition during treatment.

The above and other objects of our invention will appear from the following description of several embodiments thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of an opened coil with one of our coil stabilizers disposed thereon in annealing position;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of the coil and stabilizer of FIGURE 1, taken substantially on line 2-2 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical crosssectional view, taken substantially on line 3-3 of FIG- URE 1, and illustrating, in somewhat exaggerated relation, the disposition of the lap separator prongs at the upper end of the coil;

FIGURE 4 is an elevational view taken substantially on line 44 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical crosssectional View, taken substantially on line 5--5 of FIG- URE l and illustrating the stabilizer centering structure which enters the center opening of a coil when the stabilizer is in use;

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical crosssectional view, generally similar to FIGURE 3, but illustrating a modified form of stabilizing and lap separating P g;

FIGURE 7 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken substantially on line '7-7 of FIGURE 6;

FIGURE 8 is an illustrative vertical cross-sectional view, generally similar to FIGURES 3 and 6, but illustrating a modified form of stabilizer unit in which a resilient heat resistant pad is mounted on the under face of the stabilizer base structure and engages and holds apart the top edges of the laps of the opened coil during annealing; and

FIGURE 9 is a cross-sectional view taken substantially on line 99 of FIGURE 8.

In the drawings the coil C of strip metal has been opened preparatory to annealing by forcing heated atmosphere through the space between the laps of the coil. In annealing such an opened coil it is supported in a furnace with its axis vertical and heated atmosphere is caused to pass vertically through the space between the laps. As the coils are wound on a core or mandrel, they have a central opening 1 which is blocked off by suitable means during annealing so that the heating atmosphere will not pass therethrough, but rather will all be forced between the spaced apart laps.

Our coil stabilizer unit, as illustrated herein, comprises an open, perforate or grid-like base structure generally indicated at B. This base structure includes a cylindrical central hub or ring 2 to which are secured, as by welding, a plurality of radially extending main spokes 3. Reinforcing webs 2' extend across the hub 2 to strengthen same. The base structure B- is preferably generally circular in form and is of a size such that it will overlie and be substantially co-extensive with the upper end of the opened coil C which is to be annealed.

As clearly seen in FIGURE 1, in the illustrated stabilizer unit, a plurality of main spokes 3 are equally spaced apart circumferentially of the unit. To provide the necessary rigidity for handling and proper engagement with the upper end of the coil C, a plurality of ring members 4, 5 and 6 overlie the spokes 3 and are secured thereto, preferably by welding at the points of intersection. Between each pair of adjacent main spokes 3 are intermediate spokes '7 which extend from inner ring 4 to and somewhat beyond the outer ring 6. Additional secondary spokes 8 extend from the center ring 5 outwardly to and somewhat beyond the outer ring 6 and are disposed between adjacent main and intermediate spokes.

In order to center the stabilizer unit relative to the coil to which it is applied, a centering member is provided comprising a plurality of fins 9 secured to and extending radially outwardly from the central hub 2. As best seen in FIGURE 5, the lower outer corners of the fins 9 are tapered to facilitate entry thereof into the can tral opening 1 of an opened coil C. To assist in handling of the stabilizer unit a center lifting yoke 10 is secuerd to the central hub 2 and lifting eyes 11, having holes 12 (see FIGURE 3) therein to receive lifting hooks or the like, are mounted on top of certain of the spokes 3 as seen in FIGURES 1 and 2.

Referring now to FIGURES 3 and 4, the under faces of the spokes 3, 7 and 8 all lie in the same plane, and each spoke has secured thereto a plurality of lap separator prongs 12. These prongs 12, as seen in FIGURES 3 and 4, are pins pointed at their lower ends to facilitate entry into the spaces 14 between the laps 13 of the opened coil C. Each prong 12, seen in FIGURES 3 and 4, is Welded to a side face of the spoke 3 and adjacent prongs are secured to the opposite sides of the spoke to give a staggered arrangement. The radial spacing between the prongs is preferably uniform as indicated in FIGURES 3 and 5 so that the prongs 12 lie in radially spaced concentric circular rows and is normally greater than the radial center-to-center distance between adjacent laps 13 of the opened coil C. Each of the spokes 3, 7 and 8 is provided with a series of the downwardly projecting lap separator prongs 12, and it will be understood that, when the stabilizer unit is placed in position on top of an opened coil C with the centering fins 9 projecting into the center opening 1 of the coil, the prongs 12 will enter some of the spaces 14 between the laps 13 of the coil as seen in FIGURE 3.

The diameter, or thickness in a direction radially of the stabilizer, of the separator prongs 12 is preferably no greater than the spacing between the laps 13 so that the prongs may readily enter the coil. As seen in FIG- URE 3, which as previously noted is illustrative and not to exact scale, one of the prongs I2 enters every fourth space between the laps. This particular arrangement of prongs to laps is not essential, it being understood that the prongs 12 will be so spaced from each other that proper support will be given to the upper edges of the laps of the opened coil for the conditions of annealing temperature, strip thickness, etc., involved. In order to protect the prongs 12 against damage during handling or storage between uses, downwardly extending arms 3, longer than the prongs 12, are secured at the outer ends of certain of the spokes 3.

After the base structure B with its stabilizing prongs has been positioned on the coil, as seen in FIGURES 1 and 2, high temperature atmosphere at high velocity may be forced vertically through the space between the laps of the opened coil. The open perforate or grid-like arrangement of the base structure B is such that a minimum of resistance is offered to the flow of atmosphere through the opened coil, while the plurality of separator prongs retain the laps substantially in their original positions relative to each other and effectively prevent undesirable distortion or bending thereof during annealing. As previously explained, our coil stabilizers are particularly useful in preventing flutter or vibration of the upper edge portion of the strip of an opened coil during annealing by passing high velocity atmosphere downwardly from top to bottom of the coil. It will be understood, however, that our stabilizers may also be used to advantage under certain conditions, such as annealing very light gauge strip even when upward flow of the heating atmosphere is employed.

In FIGURES 6 and 7 we have illustrated a modified form of separator prong comprising a plurality of staplelike units 15. These are attached, as by spot welding at 16, to the underside of the base structure of the stabilizer and are preferably so located that the downwardly projecting legs 15' and 15 of the several staple units are spaced apart uniformly in a radial direction and lie in radially spaced concentric circular rows on the base B. As best seen in FIGURE 7, the legs 15' and 15" of each staple unit 15 are tapered in opposite directions to provide staggered and pointed lower ends or prongs which are adapted to enter the spaces between the laps of an opened coil in the manner previously explained.

In the stabilizer units thus far described a plurality of downwardly projecting prongs are provided which extend into the laps of an opened coil and thus locate and hold in position the upper edges thereof during annealing or the like. In FIGURES 8 and 9 we have illustrated another means for effectively preventing distortion or displacement of the top edges of the laps of a vertical axis opened coil during annealing. In this modification at least some areas of the lower face of the perforate base structure B is covered with a resilient heat resistant pad 17. This pad 17 may be made of felted asbestos material, relatively soft resilient fiberglass mat, or any other suitable heat resistant pad-like and prefera bly fibrous material which, when the base assembly or spider B is positioned on top of an opened coil, will, because of the weight of the stabilizer unit, be depressed and enter somewhat downwardly into the spaces between the laps of the coil as seen at 17 in FIGURE 9'. The downward bulging of the resilient pad-like element 17 into the spaces 14 between the laps 13 of an opened coil C will effectively prevent undesirable flutter of the top edge of the strip or relative shifting or bending of the upper portions of the laps during annealing. It will be understood that FIGURES 8 and 9 are illustrative and are not necessarily drawn to true sca'le.

Although we have described the illustrated embodiments of our invention in considerable detail, it will be understood that various modifications and changes may be made in the form and arrangement of the elements which make up our coil stabilizer units without departing from the spirit and scope of our invention. For example, the base structure B need not necessarily be in the form of a radially spoked spider but could be a different form of perforate structure having a large proportion of open space and being adapted to support separator means, such as the prongs or pads described herein, on its under face. Accordingly we do not wish to be limited to the exact form of coil stabilizer herein shown and illustrated but claim as our invention all embodiments thereof coming Within the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A coil stabilizer for use with opened coils of strip metal having spaced apart laps including, a perforate base structure, and a plurality of independent lap separator prongs secured to and projecting normally to said perforate base structure on one side thereof, said prongs being arranged in radially extending lines, the prongs of each line being spaced apart radially a distance more than three times the radial thickness of one of said lap separator prongs.

2. A coil stabilizer for use with opened coils of strip metal including a perforate base structure, a centering member projecting from one side of said base structure and adapted to enter the center opening of an opened coil to be heat treated, and independent lap separator prongs secured to and projecting normally to said perforate base structure in the same direction as said center ing member, said prongs being arranged in radially extending lines, the prongs of each line being spaced apart radially a distance more than three times the radial thickness of one of said prongs.

3. A device adapted to be used in combination with an opened coil of metal strip having the laps thereof spaced apart when said coil is disposed with its axis substantially vertical comprising, a coil stabilizer including a plurality of radially extending arms, means for securing said radially extending arms in rigid fixed relation to each other with one side of each arm disposed substantially in a common plane, and radially spaced concentric circular rows of lap separator prongs supported on said arms each prong of the circular rows being circumferentially spaced from the adjacent prongs of the same row and extending outwardly from said common plane in a direction normal thereto, said separator prongs being adapted to extend into spaces between laps of the opened coil when said coil stabilizer is positioned at one end thereof.

4. A device adapa-ted to be used in combination with an opened coil of metal strip having the laps thereof spaced apart when said coil is disposed with its axis substantially vertical comprising, a coil stabilizer including a plurality of radially extending arms, means for securing said radially extending arms in rigid fixed relation to each other with one side of each arm disposed substantially in a common plane, radially spaced concentric circular rows of lap separator prongs supported on said arms, each prong of a circular row being circumferentially spaced from the adjacent prongs of the same circular row and extending outwardly from said common plane in a direction normal thereto, said separator prongs being adapted to extend into spaces between laps of the opened coil when said coil stabilizer is positioned at one end thereof, and a centering member projecting outwardly from said common plane in the same direction as said prongs and concentric with said circular rows of prongs, said centering member being adapted to enter the center opening of an opened coil.

5. A device adapted to be used in combination with an opened coil of metal strip having the laps thereof spaced apart when said coil is disposed with its axis substantially vertical comprising, a coil stabilizer including a plurality of radially extending arms, means for securing said radially extending arms in rigid fixed relation to each other with one side of each arm disposed substantially in a common plane, and radially spaced concentric circular rows of lap separator prongs supported on said arms, each prong of a circular row being circumferentially spaced from the adjacent prongs of the same circular row and extending outwardly from said common plane in a direction normal thereto, the radial spacing of said prongs on said arms being more than three times the radial thickness of one of said prongs, said separator prongs being adapted to extend into spaces between laps of the opened coil when said coil stabilizer is positioned at one end thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

